Scripture: Luke 2:8-20
Sermon Series: Carols of Christmas – Sermon 03

Have you heard of Bret Harte? No, not the wrestler? Bret Harte was a short story fiction writer from the 1800s who wrote about the old West. He wrote about the California gold rush, gambling and miners. One of his powerful stories was “The Luck of Roaring Camp?”.

Roaring Camp was the meanest, toughest mining town in the West. More murders, more thefts, it was a terrible place inhabited entirely by men, and one woman who tried to serve them all. Her name was Cherokee Sal, but she died while giving birth to a baby. Well, the men took Sal’s baby, and they put her in a box with some old rags under her. When they looked at her, they decided that didn’t look right, so they sent one of the men 80 miles to buy a rosewood cradle. He brought it back, and they put the rags and the baby in the rosewood cradle. But the rags didn’t look right there. So, they sent another man to Sacramento, and he came back with some beautiful silk and lace blankets. And they put the baby, wrapped around with those blankets, in the rosewood cradle. It looked fine until someone happened to notice the floor was so filthy. So, these hardened, tough men got down on their hands and knees and scrubbed that floor until it was very clean. Of course, what that did was to make the walls and the ceiling and the dirty windows without curtains look absolutely terrible. So, they washed down the walls and the ceiling, and they put curtains on the windows.

Now things were beginning to look as they thought they should look. But of course, they had to give up a lot of their fighting, because the baby slept a lot, and babies can’t sleep during a brawl. So, the whole temperature of Roaring Camp seemed to go down. They used to take her out and set her by the entrance to the mine in her rosewood cradle so they could see her when they came up. Then, somebody noticed what a dirty place that was, so they planted flowers and made a nice garden by the entrance. It looked beautiful. They’d bring her shiny little stones and things they’d find in the mine.

But when they would put their hands down next to hers, their hands looked so dirty. Pretty soon the general store was all sold out of soap and shaving gear and perfume and those kinds of things. Before long, the men were a totally different bunch of guys…the baby changed everything. And if you’ve met Jesus, then you know that He changes everything, too.

The birth of Jesus changes everything. One of the great Christmas carols that powerfully shares that is Hark the Herald Angels sing. It’s filled with Scripture and doctrine. It was written in 1739 by Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. Originally, the song was entitled, A Hymn for Christmas Day.

Charles Wesley wrote over 6,500 hymns. But as happens from time to time, some of the hymns are changed to be better understood by those who sing them. So, a little while later George Whitfield, a contemporary of the Wesleys altered the lyrics of this song to what we know today.

Even though we typically only sing three verses, Charles Wesley wrote five theologically rich verses. He starts with a perspective from Luke 2:8-20 (p. 805), so let’s work through this today. If you’re taking notes…

1. Angels are the first ones we’d expect to announce the birth of God’s Son. 

Now someone is going to ask: “Do angels actually sing?” We don’t know. The text doesn’t actually say they sang. I’d prefer that they sang. I think we can say that they sang the song. Maybe they chanted it, but at any rate, as we look at Luke 2, I like to think of it as the first Christmas concert.

Of course, there are those who don’t believe in angels. However, the Bible mentions angels more than 300 times. The biblical, the Christian worldview, is utterly supernatural. Take the supernatural out of Christianity and all you have left is little more than a religious book club.

As Christ-followers, we believe this world is not the “real” world. We believe Jesus came from the “real” world to live in our temporary world for 33 years so He could save us from our sins. Atheists like Richard Dawkins don’t believe there’s “another” world. He thinks this one is the only world there is. He’s missed the central fact of the universe—God! And how intelligent is that? It’s like studying geology but leaving out the rocks. Or, studying astronomy but leaving out the stars. It’s like studying math but leaving out the numbers. Sometimes smart people are very foolish.

Luke 2:13 says, Suddenly! Suddenly!—when we least expect it—when we’ve almost given up hope—God breaks through and angels start to sing. They sang for some startled shepherds one night in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. They still sing today for those who care to hear them. Can you hear the angels singing? They bring good news from the other side, good news of great joy, the best news this dark world has ever heard.

Look at the majesty of the Christmas angels. The Bible nowhere describes angels the way most picture them. They’re not cute chubby, little cherubs strumming on harps. They’re not bright creatures with vast wings and shiny halos. And Christians don’t become angels when we go to heaven. That’s not what the Bible tells about angels. Scripture tells us there are eight different kinds of angels. Angels are spiritual beings, not physical creatures like us.

“And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’” (Luke 2:9-12).

An angel! We don’t know who it is. It may have been Gabriel who gave Mary the news that she as a virgin would conceive. Angels were created with independent existence. They don’t have parents or grandparents or grandchildren. Because of that they’ll never be brothers to Jesus. They’ll never rule with Jesus because only His brothers and sisters can. We can because of His incarnation. We’re Jesus’ family.  

But for angels, to be present on this occasion makes sense. Whenever God does something great, angels are always present. Remember that it was the angels who saw the creation. Maybe God lined them up and said, “Watch this!” And the angels sang together for joy. I don’t know if they can clap their wings or not, but if they can, they did when they saw creation.

The angels saw the beauty and glory of Jesus. They saw His wonder and matchless power. Now that the 2^nd Person of the Godhead is confined and localized as a baby in a manger, only angels can appreciate it in ways we can’t. They appreciated the extent of the incarnation, that someone who was that high would stoop that low. Only angels understood it. So, they’re there to rejoice in our salvation, though they derive no benefit whatever from it.

And there’s “an” angel, probably Gabriel who flashes down to the shepherds. There he is, strong, brilliant and powerful, and the shepherds are terrified, as we’d expect them to be. So, he says to them, Fear not.

Can I just stop here? Some of you are going through trials. You wonder where God is? And God is saying to you today, Fear not. It may be that what you fear is really God trying to connect with you. What you fear may be God in disguise. In this case with the shepherds, it wasn’t God. it was an angel, but God says to you and to me, “Do not fear.

Look at this great choir of Christmas angels. It’s a choir of angels and it’s awesome. “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” (Luke 2:13-14). Instantly, there’s a multitude of angels because there’s no place where earth’s joys and sorrows are so intensely felt as heaven.

The Bible tells us that angels rejoice when someone commits his or her life to Christ. There would be a cosmic celebration today if someone trusted Christ. Something that may be secret on earth is front-page news in heaven.

And a secret sin on earth is an open scandal in heaven. You sin secretly. The devil says, “Condemn him.” God the Father is the judge. God the Son is there and saying, “I have acquitted him.” Every issue is an open book there. Secret sin on earth is a scandal in heaven until it’s resolved. It’s resolved through Jesus Christ, our substitute, our high priest and our defense attorney.

In heaven angels participate in the joy that accompanies those who are redeemed. They become involved in it. They rejoice in our victories, and they’re saddened by our defeats.

And what do these angels say? What do they sing? Glory to God in the highest. The glory of God is the centrifugal force holding everything together. Passage after passage in the Bible talks about God doing things for His glory. In this scene, they’re singing about Jesus coming to Bethlehem.

With all of our wonderful music, there’s not a song that can compare to the song of the incarnation, that God became one of us. God became flesh and dwelt among us. They sing glory to God in the highest, because when you stop to think about it, the glory of God found in the incarnation is the wisdom of God. It represents the grace of God and the mercy of God. It’s God extending Himself to sinners like we are, reconciling and redeeming even our past sins and making the best of the train-wreck that we give Him. So, glory to God in the highest and indeed peace on earth!

2. Shepherds are the last ones we’d expect to hear about the birth of God’s Son. 

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear” (Luke 2:8-9). Angels announced the world’s greatest news to the bottom feeders of that culture.

Who are the bottom feeders to you today? Who do you NOT want as your next-door neighbor? A telemarketer? A used car salesperson? Someone in the paparazzi? A Viking Fan? Did heaven get its wires crossed? Why shepherds? Why did God bypass the theological schools and universities? Why did He bypass the big city of Jerusalem and choose Bethlehem, a bump on the road town, five or six miles south of Jerusalem? And why shepherds?

God chose them because of their position. Shepherds were on the bottom rung in society. Talk about dirty jobs. God wanted to make sure from the beginning that it was understood the message of Christmas was for everyone.

Shepherds sometimes stayed away for weeks and months without having a bath. It’s said that you know that you are in the presence of a shepherd if the wind is blowing correctly within a hundred yards.

There’s a great story about a man who said to a Bedouin, as he noticed a goat go into his tent (the Bedouins live with goats in their tents), “How in the world do you do it?” And he said, “It’s no problem. The goats get used to it.”

God chose them because He loves the unlovable. Shepherds weren’t popular or well educated. They were dirt poor. They weren’t movers or shakers. 1 Corinthians 1:26 tells us that not many mighty or noble are chosen. God chooses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.

My friend, God is saying to you today, “You may feel as if you’re on the bottom rung of society. This message is for you.” The shepherds were chosen because of their position, and possibly for their profession.

They were, after all, shepherds. God knew Jesus, who was being born in Bethlehem, was going to be a shepherd. He would be the Good Shepherd who’d lay down His life for the sheep. He was both a shepherd and He’d be a lamb. He is led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before His shearers is dumb, so He opens not His mouth and He simply endures the pain and the death (Isaiah 53:7).

God says, “I want to choose shepherds to be the first ones to hear the story.” Maybe they were taking care of Temple sheep, sheep were to be sacrificed.   And God was saying, “These are sheep that are going to be sacrificed, but I want you to know that born in Bethlehem is a shepherd who like a sheep is going to be sacrificed for sin and put an end to the need for temple sheep.”

All the sacrifices you read about in the Old Testament never took away anyone’s sin. Symbolically they did, but they looked forward to the cross. It took Jesus to come and take sin away once for all, and we rejoice in that.

The Bible says that through one offering He took away sin forever. You know that sin you committed last week, that sin that weighs on your conscience, even as we’re singing Christmas carols. Maybe your mind was distracted because your conscience was bugging you? Did you know that the relationship with God that you have, that has been so terribly compromised, can be rectified if you see Jesus as the one who through one offering can take away the barrier between you and God – you and your sin? 

The shepherds who looked after Temple lambs were the first to see the Lamb of God Who came to take away the sin of the world. Their job security would last another 30 years, when once for all the sacrifice of the Lamb of God would take place on Calvary’s cross.

It was customary in that day when a child was born, local musicians and neighbors congregated at the house to sing and greet the baby with simple music. Since Jesus was born in a borrowed stable this wasn’t possible, so God provided a choir of angels instead!

So, God says, “When it comes to telling the people the Good News, I’m going to send angels to shepherds.” That’s the first audience.

3. The heavenly message of Christmas is the one the world still needs.

Did you call out to your spouse or kids this week with Hark? Hark is an old German word. It simply means “pay attention.”

What’s God wanting us to pay attention to? God is announcing awesome news. Heaven announces great news that will bring great joy to everyone!

We’re not good at paying attention are we? Maybe the first marital squabble was Eve saying, “Adam, are you even listening to me?” God wants us to pay attention to His “good news.” It’s newsworthy of special messengers. It’s news about what God is doing to save sinners. A new King has been born. It’s the best news ever! God knew that our world needs the gospel, or good news! We only have time to touch on a few key points of this great carol.

It’s the message of the greatest rescue. Don’t you love rescue stories? The greatest rescue ones are often extraordinary feats of human ingenuity and courage, featuring wonderful events like the Chilean Miners Rescue, Miracle on the Hudson, or Jessica McClure. As verse 1 says, God and sinners reconciled! It’s the greatest rescue of all time!

It’s the message of the Creator returning to His creation. On the reality show Undercover Boss, CEOs disguised themselves and worked in their own companies to learn about their employees, those they’d never interact with. Many of them had made policies without knowing the people who’d be affected by their decisions. They didn’t know their own people.

Verse 2 says, “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail th’ incarnate Deity, pleased as man with man to dwell…” Philip Yancey writes in “The Jesus I Never Knew,” “Unimaginably the Maker of all things shrank down, down, down, so small as to become an ovum, a single fertilized egg barely visible to the naked eye, an egg that would divide and re-divide until a fetus took shape, enlarging cell by cell inside a nervous teenager.” God became one of us. He entered this world the same way we do, as a tiny baby.

It’s the message of true, lasting peace. Jesus came to be the peace offering to God for all humanity. When He died on the cross Jesus took the full wrath of God’s justice on Himself. He bore our sins on His body. Because He did, He’s the source of this peace with God we all long for. Since Jesus took the punishment for our sin, we can have our sins forgiven and have peace with God. As verse 3 says, Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!

One of the most stirring events of World War I took place on the first Christmas of that dreadful war in 1914. After five months of unending slaughter, the armies of the German Empire, France and Great Britain had fought themselves to a standstill. Then came Christmas Eve. Standing on their platforms in the trenches, troops from both sides watched for an attack but none came that night. Finally, the night passed and Christmas day dawned, the birthday of the Prince of Peace. The soldiers knew that every morning the whistles would blow and an attack would come, but this morning there was a great stillness that covered both lines. British troops responded to this amazing silence by raising hastily prepared signs that said, “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” Soon carols were heard from both the German and British trenches. Suddenly the British soldiers saw three gray-clad soldiers rise out of the German trenches. This time they came without bayonets or hand grenades. Slowly, cautiously, and at first with pathetic hesitation, they approached and passed the line of their own barbed wire and stood unprotected in No Man’s land. In a moment, before the officers realized what was happening, men by the hundreds were scrambling out of both the German trenches and British trenches and running forward toward each other. It’s known as The Christmas Truce. Soldiers who yesterday were seeking to kill one another now shook hands and wished each other a Merry Christmas in broken English and German. They began to sing Christmas songs together, each in their own language heralding the birth of the Prince of Peace. On Christmas in 1914 enemies celebrated together.

It’s the message of victory. Verse 4, Come, Desire of nations, come, fix in us thy humble home; rise, the woman’s conquering Seed The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem finds its true meaning in the death of Jesus at Golgotha. Christmas finds its purpose in Easter. The incarnation points toward the atonement; the manger toward the cross. The only reason we can sing of that silent night when God’s Son took His first breath on earth is that God, from eternity past, foreordained the dark day when that same Son would draw his last breath, lifted up from the earth.

Jesus was born to die. He had to become one of us because those He came to save were human. It must be a sinless human. It must be God Himself, who pays the price, since only He can face His own justice. Christ accomplished this victory over Satan and death by dealing with our sin.

It’s the message of transformation. The popular series The Chosen features an actor named Jonathan Roumie. He has the audacious task of playing Jesus in the series. In an interview for The New York Times, he said: “Very often, I don’t feel worthy of playing Jesus. I struggle with that a lot. But I also acknowledge what God has done for my life as a result of playing Christ and how God has changed my life.” It’s why Jesus came. Salvation and regeneration are the only way we can have new life and a spiritual transformation. Verse 5, “Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface, Stamp Thine image in its place: Second Adam from above, Reinstate us in Thy love.”

When we give our broken lives to Jesus, as our Redeemer, He begins to transform us, so that we become more and more like Him.

Author, pastor, and one time atheist, Lee Strobel talks about this as he writes: “How can I tell you the difference God has made in my life? My daughter Allison was 5 years old when I became a follower of Jesus, and all she had known in those 5 years was a dad who was profane and angry. I remember I came home one night and kicked a hole in the living-room wall just out of anger with life. I am ashamed to think of the times Allison hid in her room to get away from me.

Five months after I gave my life to Jesus Christ, that little girl went to my wife and said, Mommy, I want God to do for me what He’s done for Daddy. At age 5!…All she knew was that her dad used to be this way: hard to live with. But more and more her dad was becoming different. And if that is what God does to people, then sign her up. At age 5 she gave her life to Jesus. God changed my family. He changed my world. He changed my eternity.”

That’s transformation! It’s what Jesus does when we surrender to Him and He comes into our lives! When we’re born-again, the transformation begins.

Conclusion

Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the new born King.”

The wonder of the incarnation is that God the Father came down the stairs of heaven with a baby in His arms. God says, “I am taking the initiative to reconcile you to Myself.” And we all need this reconciliation. We’re all part of the same cloth. We’re all in need as helpless, hopeless sinners.

I’m sure that I’m talking to some who doubt God’s love and God’s care because life is harsh. Things are difficult. They don’t work out like you think they should. Then, you pray and nothing changes, and you begin to ask yourself the question, “Where is God when I really need Him?”

How do we know God loves us? How do we know that it isn’t all just a fairy tale? Because the Bible says, “He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?” God says, “So that you know that I love you, I care about you and will reconcile you, I am sending My own Son as a man. You’ll kill Him, but it’s proof that I love the world.” That’s why today that the verse in the Bible most quoted is: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but having everlasting life. That’s what Bethlehem is all about. It’s about the crib. It’s about the cross, and it’s about the crown. It’s why we the angels lit up the Judean hillside, Hark, the herald angels sing.

If you’re here today and have never trusted Christ as your Savior. You know that you’ve never asked Him into your life. If you want to, when I close in prayer, receive Christ and pray in your heart and say, God, I’m a sinner; I need reconciliation and I choose today to be reconciled. I surrender to You. In heaven there would be angels who would know about it and rejoice because another sinner is converted.

My friend, God loves you. The proof is Christmas. The proof is the coming of Jesus. If you do not have Christmas in your heart, you’ll never find it under a tree. It’s the forgiveness, the cleansing and indwelling Christ that gives us the message of what Christmas is truly all about.

So, as I pray if you accept God’s Christmas gift, the first Christmas gift, and trust Christ as your Savior, you’ll find out what Christmas is all about.